FOR the fourth time in two weeks Belstone were involved in a last-over thriller, this time when they visited Spreyton for a Buckley Cup Twenty20 match. Richard Drake made the game look easy for Belstone, knocking up 27 runs in quick time with two sixes and two fours but everyone else struggled on a wicket that played low and unpredictably, especially at the pavilion end. The bounce and turn was exploited by Chris Hancock, whose tricky leg-spin brought him excellent figures of four for eight while at the other end Jason Winders was just as effective, clean bowling three batsmen while conceding only seven runs. Needing 93 to win Spreyton also found it hard to score, taking 10 overs to reach 36, but Steve Wright played sensibly before retiring on 26. Smart fielding by Chris Gomersall, who threw down the wicket to run out Tony Niven for 12, and Johnny Carter, who gathered in a wide to stump Bharrat for 15 off Chris Walsh, kept the game evenly balanced as the light faded. After tidy spells from Walsh (2-0-8-2) and Pete Gross (4-0-15-2) it fell to Andrew Hooper to bowl the last over with Spreyton needing ten to win with two wickets left. A boundary off the first ball was followed by a well-judged running catch by Drake to dismiss Griffis. This brought opener Wright back to the crease to add three runs to deep cover. Last man Hemming was then dropped in the gully to prolong the excitement. Two runs later the scores were level with the last ball to come. With all the fielders in close, the ball was missed by Hemming, and Wright was run out by Andrew Paterson, to end the match honours even with a tie. The following evening Belstone?s Buckley Cup season ended with a visit to Tedburn St Mary where they amassed 150 for six ? their highest 20 over score since August 2000 ? thanks to entertaining stroke-play from Phil Woods (29 ret), Johnny Carter (25 ret), Matt Dennis (22), Pete Gross (15) and Rob Sandercock (14 no). Between them they scored nineteen 4s and three 6s, including 18 off one over from Simon Fathers, 17 from an over by Parsons and 15 off the final over bowled by Willoughby. Tedburn had to attack to stand any chance of reaching the target and five of their batsmen were clean bowled in the process, swinging across the line to Gross (4-0-20-2) and the unpredictable offerings of Richard Drake (4-0-17-3). Only Neil Branton really got going and the game ended when he was last out for 24, well caught at long-on by Woods off Andrew Hooper, to give Belstone a crushing 74 run victory. Last Sunday Dunsford visited Rew Meadow for a game where both innings followed a remarkably similar pattern of early wickets and late middle-order partnerships. Dunsford began badly when opener Sharland chipped his first ball from Harry Bushin to square leg where Phil Woods, Belstone?s leading catcher this season, made no mistake. Bushin struck twice more early on for figures of three for 10 from six overs. At the other end Aidan Easterbrook and Andrew Paterson also took three wickets between them ? including two catches to keeper Johnny Carter in consecutive balls ? to reduce Dunsford to 25 for six after 16 overs. That was the end of Belstone success as Watson (60 no) and J Dudbridge (29 no) batted steadily through the rest of the 40 overs to put on 104 invaluable runs for the seventh wicket to give the visitors, with 129 for six, something to bowl at. Belstone began just as badly, slumping to 31 for five in 12 overs, as Spry cut through the top order with figures of four for 21. Paterson, who was dropped twice early on, then joined Carter for a match-turning partnership of 88 for the sixth wicket in 17 overs. After Paterson was out for 34, Carter continued to his maiden half-century for Belstone, eventually guiding them to a four-wicket victory with nine overs to spare Buckley Cup P W L Tied Pts Hatherleigh 9 9 0 0 125 Belstone 10 6 3 1 107 Spreyton 7 2 4 1 63 Tedburn St Mary 7 3 4 0 61 Sticklepath 8 1 7 0 59 Yeoford 7 2 5 0 57
